| While living in Siberia for a year, I agreed to speak at | | | | Stalin era, it was determined that the timber and |
| a human rights conference. Only in Russia will you find | | | | natural resources in a particular spot of Siberia were |
| a place like Tinda, a city we stopped in on our way. | | | | very valuable. Unfortunately, nobody lived within 500 |
| Trans-Siberian Railway | | | | miles of so of the location. To solve the problem, the |
| When living in Siberia, the only way to get around is | | | | authorities decided to build a railroad and city from |
| car, helicopter or the Trans-Siberian Railway. Since I | | | | scratch. |
| had neither a car nor helicopter, the train it was. | | | | Building in the middle of Siberia is just a slight |
| Unfortunately, the train to my conference left at 4 | | | | challenge. Just to get to the location of Tinda, the |
| AM after a night spent trying to acquire a travel visa | | | | Russians had to build a railway over permafrost, |
| on the sly, which meant drinking a lot of visa. | | | | bogs, huge mountain ranges, roaring rivers and I |
| Dutifully, my travel partner, Oleg Vladimirovich, and I | | | | won't even mention the bugs in the summer. |
| made the train where we were met by a local | | | | The unfortunately named BUM railway was started in |
| reporter, Nina, who was coming along. The | | | | 1930 and finished in 1984. During this process, |
| Trans-Siberian Railway can offer some amazing | | | | hundreds of five story concrete buildings were built |
| views, but not at four in the morning. I went to | | | | to form the city of Tinda. A hundred thousand |
| sleep. | | | | people were uprooted from their homes and moved |
| The thing about Russia is you simply can't grasp how | | | | to this city in the middle of nowhere. Walla, the |
| big it is. Although we were traveling in the same | | | | communist authorities had a labor force to exploit the |
| state ["oblast"], the trip took 30 hours. Since it was | | | | natural resources. |
| winter, the view out the train was mostly of snow | | | | With the fall of communism, the authorities in Russia |
| covered trees. Yes, it sounds romantic until you have | | | | are no longer interested in the area. The city is failing |
| to sit there for a day. Fortunately, the Russians have | | | | and people are flocking to live in cities with jobs and |
| good taste as the train radio blared John Lee Hooker | | | | better wages. The ones that remain in Tinda are in |
| most of the way. No, I don't know why. | | | | desperate straits. It is a sad statement to the legacy |
| Tinda | | | | of communism, where the interests of the state |
| Only in Russia will you find a city like Tinda. During the | | | | dominated. |